joining us is peter bookvar. you've been writing a lot about the fiscal cliff and what it might mean down the road. first of all, do you think we've come to a solution and if not, what happens to the economy? >> well i think we come to a deal but there's this perception as long as you get a deal, everything is going to be fine. i'm of the opinion if you get a deal it's a bad one. in december the market will have its own dynamic and will cheer a deal but in 2013 we have to deal with the economic consequences of it. >> what is a bad deal, by that we don't tackle some of the entitlements, don't deal with the bigger fiscal abyss? >> the argument about just raising taxes on the higher income is a financial red herring when you have trillion-dollar deficits. it all comes down to the entitlements. you fix the entitlements, control the rate of spending and all of this goes away. the u.s. economy is barely growing 2%, europe is in a deep recession, so by raising taxes to any extent will send the u.s. economy into recessio